Commissioners reject low-income tax rebate

Only two counties have adopted program

For the sixth time, Lincoln County commissioners decided not to adopt a property tax rebate plan for low-income residents.

At their meeting last month, commissioners took no action on the proposal, which by law must be considered every other year by county commissions across New Mexico,

County Attorney Alan Morel explained that only the counties of Los Alamos and Santa Fe have adopted the rebate. He said the Santa Fe County attorney told him that two years ago, the county received a tax bill for $300,000 to make up the lost revenue to the state, and the next year, for $500,000. "So it's continuing to go up as more and more learn about rebate," he said. The average rebate is about $200 and, "is just shifting the tax from low income to higher income individuals. It requires you to pull it out of your general fund. It's a complex issue."

Morel didn't have an estimate of what the cost might be to Lincoln County.

"We've had it on our agenda five times in the last 10 years and commissioners have decided not to adopt," he said.

Chairman Jackie Powell said she wasn't interested in "making the state whole for anything."

No one from the public offered any comments.

County Assessor Paul Baca told commissioners not to confuse the rebate with the low-income property tax exemption, which is a freeze in evaluation, not necessarily on tax. A taxpayer over 65 with an income of less than $32,000 a year or disabled is eligible for the exemption. "We have 75 to 80 on the books," he said.

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"The highest one is $4,500 taxable, which would compute to a little over $100 in tax savings. I just wanted you to know the two are different, if someone asks."

Under midyear budget adjustments, Commissioner Mark Doth offered a successful motion for approval of 82 line item changes that left a reserve of $90,458 over the state-required reserve of $1,653,675. The adjustments will be sent for approval to the State Department of Finance and Administration. County general fund changes hit $456,371, with the total revenue change for the entire budget coming to $739,561. County Manager Nita Taylor submitted a summary of the changes by department.

Commissioner Preston Stone asked for a comparison of the current midyear adjustments compared to last year's adjustments. County Finance Director "Punkin" Schlarb said they were similar in dollar amount, but the county didn't have as many projects running as it did last year.

"The court security plan presented to you in November, where the (district court) judge requested having someone there with arresting authority during court, and (to provide) security for the whole complex, so that's an addition of two personnel there," she said.

Taylor said the budget adjustment contains half a year salaries for two full-time deputy positions. A full-year amount will be shown in the Fiscal Year 2013-2014 budget that will begin July 1. Schlarb said the county clerk also asked for and received additional hours for a part-time employee.

"There also were some in and out (entries)," she said. A capital outlay expense for a vehicle was listed for the county assessor, but he reduced his budget for computers and the bottom line didn't change, she said.

Pre-employment physicals came in higher than anticipated, Schlarb said. "We had a major turnover of employees this last year," she said. "It's the first time I remember going over budget. That was highly unusual."

Chairman Jackie Powell said she appreciated the conservative estimate on the income side. "You do an excellent job on that," she told Schlarb and Taylor. "It's better than overstating it."